New Pentium D build

[mhenrickson]

I'm ready to attempt my first build at a Pentium D machine. I want a budget computer that will be used primarily for programming and some video editing/dvd burning. I'm not much of a gamer, but have been playing Civilization 4 a bit. My current PC is a Dell Pentium III - 800MHz, and is close to six years old.

I plan on using the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and hard drives from my current PC.

Here's what I had in mind for my build, purchasing all the parts from newegg.com:

Pentium D 805
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116001

AOpen motherboard - i945Ga-PLF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813137069

Corsair Value RAM - 2GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527

I've already purchsed the power supply - Antec TruepowerII - 430
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103928

and already have a case - Coolermaster Cavalier
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119075

I plan on using the integrated video on the motherboard, but may think of adding a seperate video card if needed. If anyone has a recommendation on video cards, feel free to suggest one that would fit my needs.

I also might think of adding a SATA 3.0 hard drive.

I'd appreciate any feedback on the proposed system, and any tips and tricks I should know before I get started. I've got experience swapping out drives, RAM, motherboards, etc from other PC's, but have never built one from the ground up.

Thanks in advance!
Marc

[blue60007]

Integrated video isn't going to play the latest games very well, if at all.

You should get a single core 800MHz FSB CPU instead. I think that'll be faster than a dual core on a 533 FSB.

I think ASUS has some cheaper boards you could look at (and are probably better quality)...

We can suggest a video card, but a total budget is needed.

[mhenrickson]

I was looking to go dual core so I could still work on other things while performing a video render, virus scan, or running a compile in the background. I'd be willing to step up to a Pentium D 820 or 920 for an additional $100 or so, if it meant the gain would be that significant. Is 800MHz FSB that significant over a 533MHz FSB? I'm not married to the dual core purchase, but for what I need it to do it seemed like the best option.

Regarding the integrated video...Civ4 is the only game I play, and it's currently running well enough on my P3-800 machine. I think I have a 64MB nVidia card in there now, but it is a 6 year-old machine. I figured a newer machine would be able to run Civ4 on integrated video if my current machine can do it. Perhaps I'm being naive to the quality of the integrated video? The sole reason for choosing the AOpen board was to get the integrated video. If there's a better board/vid card option out there I'm open to that too.

I'd like to keep the budget around the $500 range if possible, and I could go down to 1GB RAM to save some cash if that's a feasible option.

[glc]

Civ4 should play okay on a GMA 950. If not, just get a video card later.

Get this board - it's Asus, and cheaper:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131545

533 to 800 FSB is a *considerable* gain.

[mhenrickson]

Thanks for the help. I have some follow up questions....

1) Given that the bump up from the 533MHz FSB to the 800MHz is worth my extra cash, I would then go with the Pentium D 820 or 920. One worry I have about going with the 920 would be the need to flash the BIOS in the motherboard to get it compatible. How would I do this if I don't have a compatible processor to start with? Is there any way to check with BIOS version the board ships with? Would the 820 then be the "safe" choice?

2) Are AOpen motherboards of poor quality? The ASUS board you linked to is MicroATX form factor, and I was going ATX for this build. Would an Intel board be a better choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813121289

[glc]

A micro ATX board will fit in a standard ATX case. No need to get a full size board unless you need the extra expansion card slots.

If it ships with too old a bios, Asus will send you an updated bios chip.

AOpen is decent quality, but that board just isn't worth the price.

[mhenrickson]

I went ahead and built a PC with my original parts list in the first post. I really appreciate the feedback posts, but decided that my original plan was the most cost effective way to a new computer. I also went with the original motherboard because I did want the extra PCI slots. I also added a 250GB SATA drive. Total cost of parts was around $600.

It took about three hours to build, start to finish, but all went well and I really had no major problems. BIOS posted on the first try, and Win XP installed without a hitch. I had to manually install the drivers for the onboard graphics, but that was no big deal. And Civ4 seems to run great, even with onboard video.

One minor problem I had was with the 2 case fans. My power supply has two "fan only" connectors, which I hooked up to the front and rear case fans. The front fan (80mm) ran fine, but the rear fan (120mm) would not start up unless I gave it a little push. I reconnected the fans using the standard 4-pin connector, and left the "fan only" connectors empty. That fixed the problem. So my question is, does anyone have experience with the Antec PS - "Fan Only" connectors? I assume there's no problem with my using the regular power for both fans, other than they'll both run full speed at all times. Anyway, any information on this would be helpful.

Thanks for the feedback in this post, and the entire forum. Very helpful in making my first build a success!

[Kareeser]

It is likely that the fans start running only above a specific temperature, in order to decrease its noise while idling.
The rear ran in my build doesn't start up when I turn on the computer, but it will once I start gaming heavily.

[blue60007]

Yeah, the Antec's with those connectors supply voltage to them depending on temperature. Probably the same or related to the voltage supplied to the power supply fan. I tried some of my fans with it and one (higher powered, higher starting voltage required)) that did the same thing. The voltage it was getting was below the fan's starting voltage...another would run (lower powered, lower starting voltage) from the start.